Welcome to Broad Street Hockey’s Summer 2025 Top Under 25! The series is back and with the Philadelphia Flyers focusing so much on the future, it’s more important than ever. Join us as we rank the 25 best players under the age of 25 for the next few weeks.
No. 22: Carter Amico
2024-25 Primary League/Team: U.S National U-18 Team
2024-25 Statistics: 0 G, 3 A in 13 GP
Age as of 9/15/2025: 18 (3/15/2007)
Acquired Via: 2025 NHL Draft – Round 2, Pick 38
Looking at Carter Amico, three things are evident. His size. His size. Oh, and his size. Amico stands at 6-foot-5 and weighs in at between 225 and 234 pounds depending on who you read. He’s massive. And has room to grow. His stock might have fallen a bit from this time last summer, yet an unfortunate injury might have reaped huge benefits for the Flyers in the future.
Amico spent most of the season off the ice, as the injury to his kneecap in November curtailed most of his season. While he attended but didn’t participate in the Flyers developmental camp earlier this summer, he will be starting his NCAA career at Boston University this coming season.
How did Amico’s 2024-25 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?
Amico played 13 games for the U.S. National Under-18 team, earning three assists in that time. He also played a mere four games with the U.S. Developmental Team, getting two assists. Unfortunately, in November, Amico was injured. During an interview in early June, Amico was asked how his recovery was going. “Yeah, it’s going really good,” he said during the NHL combine. “I had a CT scan a couple of weeks ago and got cleared to skate, so I’m looking to get back on the ice pretty soon here.”
It’s hard to know how his stock is given he was out of the lineup much of 2024-25, undergoing knee surgeries to repair what was a problem with his kneecap. It might be a case of simply Amico’s stock being static while the draft class of 2025 around him both blossomed and wilted. If there is any upside to this, it’s the fact Amico is young enough to overcome any lingering issues that might arise. Amico is big but he also has good agility and skating ability. In short, he’s not a pylon that can be easily eluded. He can cut down time and space quickly, at least he did before the injury. As well, the injury was a fractured kneecap, nothing that pertained to an ACL or MCL sprain or tear despite all those ligaments being in the neighborhood. That’s a bonus.
Of course, any youngster recovering from a surgery and rehabilitation, especially in what his arguably the most important season of his burgeoning career, might have some lingering issues in his development. On draft night, after the Flyers took him, Amico described the past season as “super frustrating” but was hoping to return to the ice shortly after the Draft. It’s not a case of Amico being unable to correct mistakes as a defender, but simply needing a little more time to eventually end up getting to where his peers might be at heading into 2025-26.
If anything, an injury like this might build more character in the youngster, an intangible which is hard to measure but separates players from successful NHL careers and being lifers in the American Hockey League.
What are we expecting from Amico this season? What should we be looking for from him?
Most in the Flyers organization, as well as those at Boston University, will be looking for possibly one thing and one thing only from Amico in 2025-26. Namely, that he starts the year and finishes the year without any injuries, especially any injury to the knee that kept him out most of last season. Amico’s offensive output is lacking, and it’s clearly not one of his strong suits. He also can sometimes hold onto the puck a bit longer than needed, ending up causing some problems and being hemmed in his own end instead of making the quick, high percentage out. But if Amico looks a bit off or rusty to begin the season, it’s perfectly understandable. It’s hard to practice or train when you haven’t been able to take to the ice. And it’s particularly hard to be game ready coming off such an injury.
Obviously one would love to see some consistency in his game, something Amico admits he needs to work on despite his generally strong tool box. But above all else, much like Jamie Drysdale in 2024-25, the biggest accomplishment outside of any personal statistics or accolades would be that he finished the season healthy with no recurring issues with his knee. That would be a huge win in itself. A program such as Boston University should be able to help Amico settle in, not be expected to be a top pair defensemen from the get go. Yet if he continues to do the simple things like kill penalties, block shots, knock opponents on their backsides and clear the net of traffic while playing, then it should be considered a positive development in 2025-26. A deep playoff run by BU wouldn’t hurt either and get Amico some playoff experience at a higher level. The main thing is staying healthy.
How does Amico fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be part of the next good Flyers team?
The great thing with Amico is that he’s not expected to crack the Flyers lineup for a handful of seasons. Clearly there’s a pecking order the Flyers are looking at making the cut first on the back end, with Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald being two of the more obvious named bandied about. Amico’s size will be something the Flyers brass will love as long as he’s around and healthy. Unless he makes great strides, he would probably out of his depth slightly in a middle pairing initially, but right at home to start his career as a bottom pairing defender. And given how Briere is not averse to adding cheap, short-term depth to the blue line as he did this year with Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert, Amico will need to earn the spot. It won’t be reserved for him.
It’s a possibility that Amico becomes part of the next good Flyers team, but it’s probably safe to say he won’t be the piece that will make them go from a good team to a great team. Clearly, his skill set is something that most teams look for. He has a good chance with a strong stint in the NCAA to be one of the top six blueliners when the Flyers have turned the corner.
What do we think Amico’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?
Amico’s career trajectory is probably — with any luck — a series of gradual baby steps. He’s not going to take the NCAA by storm and find a Makar-esque scoring knack the next few seasons. With small but steady steps in his development, the defenseman should be able to arrive in Philadelphia a little more polished than he currently is. Whether that means he’ll need more seasoning in the American Hockey League with Lehigh Valley (assuming the affiliate is still the same down the road) remains to be seen.
Ideally Amico becomes one of the steadier third pairing defensemen in the NHL to start his career. And eventually possibly ending up to be a complete SOB to play against, developing a Pronger-esque mean streak while eating up a lot of minutes as a fourth defenseman. He’d be the steadying big presence paired with a offensively-minder defender. Those qualities are traits any NHL would kill for. A lot of that development is up to Amico and good fortune. He’ll need to put in the work, and he appears to be the type that is eager to learn and take criticism well.
The Flyers have been down this road before with a big defenseman taken relatively early in the draft. Back in 2013, then Flyers general manager Ron Hextall took a huge swing on Sam Morin. Morin’s career was plagued with a cruel string of injuries to his knees, curtailing his career in the NHL to 29 games. Morin, who wasn’t quite as fleshed out as Amico in his draft year, was a big man who had knee issues. And being in the Flyers organization, Morin might be able to help Amico from a personal level as a player who has had to undergo rehabilitation following a knee issue. We’re not saying Amico’s trajectory will mirror Morin’s (at least we hope not!) but Morin’s experience with injuries at an early age could be something Amico learns from. Morin’s been there, done that.
Regardless, Amico’s upside and size should keep him in the conversation for the Flyers blueline for years to come. Seeing a mammoth on the back end who can move and keep his end clean would be a huge bonus for a contending team. Here’s hoping Carter Amico fits that bill.
Previously in Philadelphia Flyers Summer 2025 Top 25 Under 25:
